The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau joined five local prosecutors' offices on Wednesday (March 9) in raiding the premises of eight Chinese and Hong Kong companies for alleged trade secret theft in the tech sector.

Scattered around various tech clusters, the firms are suspected of poaching talent and stealing trade secrets from the semiconductor industry. Chinese headhunters have been looking for experts in areas of IC design, electronic design automation (EDA), telecommunications, and electric vehicle manufacturing, per UDN.

The firms include Advanced Manufacturing EDA Co., Bouson International, Vimicro, Beijing Yinxing Technology, VeriSilicon, Analogix Semiconductor, Key Technology, and GLC Semiconductor. Fourteen locations in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Taichung were searched, while 60 individuals were questioned, according to the Investigation Bureau.

Chinese businesses have embarked on a drive to lure Taiwanese tech talent and steal trade secrets over the years. In 2021 alone, 26 cases were reported, involving more than NT$200 billion (US$7.4 billion) worth in intellectual property infringement.

Describing the activity as jeopardizing Taiwan’s national security, investigators are seeking to probe the methods and techniques used to this end. At least 42 engineers from the eight companies were summoned for questioning as witnesses, wrote UDN.

By: DocMemory
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